Vol.  29 


NOVEMBER,  1911 


No.  5 


TO          THE          HOMES          OF 


By       ELBERT       HUBBARD 


Single  Copies,  10  Cents 


By  the  Year,  $1.00 


HE    song 

we  hear 
with  our  ears 
is  only  the 
song  that  is 
sung  in  our 
hearts 


PATRICK  J.  HEALY 
as  a  Youth 


A    LITTLE    JOURNEY 
TO    THE    HO  ME    OF 

PATRICK  J.  HEALY 


DONE  INTO  A  BOOK  BY  THE 
ROYCROFTERS  AT  THEIR  SHOP 
WHICH  IS  IN  EAST  AURORA,  N.  Y. 
M  C  M  X  I 


DEACCESSIONEO  BY 

CHICAGO  HISTORICAL  SOCIETY 

PRINTED  COLLECTIONS 


Copyright.  1911 
By  Elbert  Hubbard 


PATRICK  J.  HEALY 


one  knows  Chicago  as  the 
home  of  the  World's  largest  Stock- 
yards, but  few  realize  that  it  is 
the  home  of  the  World's  largest 
Music-House  .-•«.  .•€* 
The  motto  of  Chicago  is,  "  I 
Will  " ;  the  chaste  and  classic 
motto  of  Boston  is,  "  Let 's  Not." 
The  union  of  these  two  mottoes, 
rightly  used,  would  produce  a 
mountain -peak  in  any  line  of 
endeavor  &+•  &+ 

The  house  of  Lyon  and  Healy 
was  built  by  a  man  from  Boston.  In  everything 
of  an  honest,  courageous  and  farseeing  nature, 
his  "I  Will  "  was  as  sure  and  as  much  to  be 
counted  upon  as  the  ozone  from  the  lake ;  but 
in  all  of  the  hundreds  of  side  issues  and  petty 
make-believes  that  so  many  businessmen  allow 
to  take  up  their  time,  his  Boston  training  stood 
him  in  good  stead. 

A  fiddle  fancier  can  tell  from  the  F  holes  in  an 
old  violin  whether  the  instrument  was  made  in 
France,  Germany  or  Italy,  or  even  if  it  were 


PATRICK  J.   HEALY 


made  in  the  North  or  South  of  Italy,  and  he  can 
also,  from  this  trifling  detail,  hazard  a  guess  as 
to  the  period  of  its  birth.  These  tabulations  are 
a  delight  to  us  all.  Who  has  not  felt  a  Sherlock 
pleasure  in  knowing  that  a  redheaded  woman 
has  a  temper? 
The  Harp  With  the  Crown-Topped  Column 

«  NUMBER  of  years  ago,  a  musical  friend 
of  mine  was  glancing  over  photographs  of 
celebrities.  He  came  upon  one  of  Tramonti,  the 
great  harpist,  taken,  of  course,  in  a  pose  of  care- 
less elegance,  leaning  upon  his  harp.  This  musician 
said,  "  Well,  I  see  he  plays  a  Lyon  and  Healy 
harp." 

"  How  do  you  know?  "  I  asked. 
"  The  top  of  the  column  is  round  or  crown-shaped. 
If  it  were  an  Erard  harp,  it  would  have  an  octago- 
nal top." 

At  Bayreuth  one  Summer  they  had  five  harps 
in  the  Orchestra,  under  the  direction  of  Siegfried 
Wagner,  and  as  an  American  I  felt  a  thrill  of  pride 
when  I  saw  that  they  all  had  crown-topped  col- 
umns. Again,  when  I  gazed  upon  the  photograph 
of  the  great  Symphony  Orchestra  of  Saint  Peters- 


PATRICK   J.   HEALY 


burg,  I  felt  a  personal  pleasure  in  spotting  the 
round  top  on  the  harp. 

P.  J.  Healy's  dream  had  come  true  s^  He  had 
accomplished  the  impossible.  He  had  made  the 
Art  Centers  of  the  world  come  to  Cook  County 
for  the  divine  instrument ! 

To  make  Chicago  the  recognized  authority  on 
Spareribs  was,  in  its  way,  a  somewhat  difficult 
task ;  still,  everything  favored  it.  But  to  make 
Chicago  surpass  the  world  in  music,  with  every- 
thing against  it,  was  so  difficult  that,  if  the  thing 
had  not  been  done,  the  very  idea  would  be  ridi- 
culed. We  are  all  partners  with  our  friends. 
For  a  generation  I  have  been  a  partner  in  Lyon 
and  Healy's  success,  for  I  knew  the  man. 
I  remember  P.  J.  Healy  when  Chicago  was  the 
fifth  city  in  size  in  America — and  I  Ve  seen 
Chicago  advance  from  a  city  of  less  than  two 
hundred  thousand  to  a  metropolis  of  more  than 
two  million. 

I  remember  when  there  was  only  one  one-horse 
railroad  in  Chicago,  and  that  ran  on  State  Street 
from  the  river  where  the  boats  landed,  out  a  mile 
and  a  half. 


PATRICK   J.   HEALY 


The  fare  was  ten  cents,  and  to  keep  down  expenses, 
the  car  was  of  the  bobtail  variety — no  conductor. 
The  driver  had  one  eye  on  his  mule  and  one  eye 
on  the  passengers  to  see  they  deposited  their 
good  coin.  If  they  did  not,  he  simply  tied  his  lines 
around  the  brakehandle  and  came  in  and  argued 
with  them.  Not  much  music  in  Chicago  then. 
And  not  an  inviting  field.  But  when  the  right  man 
comes  along,  the  garden  blossoms. 
Yes,  Patrick  Joseph  Healy  was  always  a  familiar 
figure  to  me.  And  some  of  the  folks  that  I  loved, 
loved  Patrick  Joseph  Healy. 

Silas  G.  Pratt 

»EALY  dealt  in  musical  instruments  and 
music,  and  made  musical  instruments,  and 
added  to  life's  harmonies,  and  he  discovered  a 
man  by  the  name  of  Silas  G.  Pratt.  Healy  was 
always  discovering  men. 

Healy's  life  was  a  search  for  talent  &+•  All  boys 
were  to  him  wonderful  possibilities.  "  A  boy  is 
a  genius  in  the  cocoon,"  he  used  to  say.  "  Where 
do  you  get  such  intelligent  assistants?  "  some 
one  asked  him ;  and  his  answer  was,  "  I  grow 
them." 


PATRICK   J.   HEALY 


So  Healy  discovered  Silas  G.  Pratt,  clerk,  sales- 
man and  composer  by  candlelight.  Pratt  was 
interested  in  a  new  Sunday-School  song-book  .'••. 
Healy  looked  the  book  over  upon  request  of  Silas, 
and  Healy,  being  psychic  and  musical  and  poetic 
and  prophetic,  found  in  this  book  one  song  that 
caught  his  ear  and  his  fancy,  and  he  concluded 
to  publish  the  book,  more  to  please  Pratt  than 
for  any  other  reason.  The  book  was  published, 
and  sold  into  the  millions ;  and  the  particular 
song  that  was  sung  and  whistled  and  played  and 
piped  upon  all  over  the  world  was,  "  The  Sweet 
By  and  By,"  composed  by  Joseph  P.  Webster — 
that  gentle  poet  of  the  violin. 
And  so  this  was  my  introduction  to  Patrick 
Joseph  Healy,  for  Healy  was  the  man  who  dis- 
covered Pratt  and  launched  his  bark  upon  the 
tide  of  time.  And  Pratt  and  I  roomed  together, 
and  he  it  was  who  first  told  me  of  Healy,  and 
later,  introduced  me  to  him.  Pratt  had  a  gift  of 
composing  popular  salon  music,  as  he  called  it, 
although  we  had  no  salons.  I  remember  one  effort 
which  he  played  for  me  called  "  The  Harp  at 
Midnight."  "  That  composition  will  live  as  long 


8          PATRICK   J.    HEALY 

as  you  do,"  I  told  Pratt,  and  they  are  both  very 
much  alive  yet.  So  sometimes  I  'm  right. 
But,  in  the  midst  of  his  enthusiasm,  Pratt  took 
this  piece  to  Mr.  Healy  to  publish,  and  Mr.  Healy, 
with  a  twinkle  in  his  eye,  got  right  down  to  busi- 
ness. "It  is  a  nice  composition,"  said  he,  "  too 
nice  to  have  been  written  by  any  one  of  the 
unromantic  Yankee  name  of  Silas  G.  «»  If  we 
publish  it,  we  must  have  an  author's  name  in 
keeping  with  the  composition  itself." 
"  Well,"  said  Silas,  "  call  a  Pratt  by  any  other 
name  and  he  '11  sing  as  sweet." 
"  You  mean  sweetly,"  replied  Healy,  for,  as  before 
stated,  Healy  was  from  Boston. 
They  were  standing  at  one  of  the  counters  in  the 
Lyon  and  Healy  store,  and  Mr.  Healy  reached 
his  hand  into  the  showcase  and  drew  forth  a 
violin-bridge.  It  was  stenciled  AUBERT.  "  This," 
said  Mr.  Healy,  "  is  a  name  that  sounds  like  your 
piece." 

"  But,"  objected  Pratt,  "  there  is  an  Auber,  a 
great  composer,  and  we  might  become  mixed." 
C  "  Hardly,"  said  Mr.  Healy ;  "  but  you  can 
make  it  very  different  by  calling  yourself  V.  B. 


PATRICK   J.    HEALY 


Aubert,  V.  B.  standing  for  Violin-Bridge." 
So  the  piece  was  published — and  so  it  is  cata- 
logued today. 

The  Little  Giant  of  Music-Land 

XN  talking  with  my  old  friend,  Judge  Cratty, 
about  Healy,  I  got  from  him  a  clear  and 
legal  estimate  of  the  "  little  giant  of  music-land." 
<[  This  was  the  judge's  point  of  view  when  he 
exclaimed  that  Healy  was  the  greatest,  biggest 
and  best  man  in  America,  for  I  asked  him  to  give 
me  the  formula  by  which  he  judged  whether  a 
man  was  great,  able,  efficient,  profound  ;  or  merely 
smart,  industrious,  clever,  hustling,  saving  and 
successful  «•»  &+ 

The  Judge  reached  over  and  picked  up  a  piece 
of  chalk,  and  on  a  blackboard  that  happened  to 
be  at  hand  he  wrote  down  what  he  called  the 
ingredients  that  go  into  the  making  of  a  man : 
industry,  economy,  self-reliance,  decision,  humor, 
judgment,  prescience,  appreciation,  imagination, 
enthusiasm,  sensibility,  love  of  truth. 
"  There,"  said  the  Judge,  "  there  are  twelve 
qualities.  Just  size  yourself  up,  or  anybody  else. 
As  for  Patrick  J.  Healy,  he  rated  around  nine 


io~  PATRICK   J.    HEALY 


and  a  half,  counting  ten  as  the  perfect  standard." 
€L  Cratty's  estimate  of  Healy  corroborated  my 
own.  Healy  was  the  most  appreciative,  the  kindest, 
the  gentlest  man  I  ever  knew,  who  yet  had  will 
plus  and  purpose  to  spare.  His  voice  was  always 
keyed  low.  When  he  gave  orders  to  his  people 
he  gave  the  order  but  once. 
His  dignity  commanded  respect  wherever  he  went. 
Nobody  ever  looked  upon  his  face  and  doubted 
his  word.  He  was  the  only  witness  I  ever  saw 
called  into  court  where  the  judge  said  to  the 
attorneys,  "  Shall  we  waive  the  oath  in  taking 
Mr.  Healy 's  testimony?  "  and  both  sides  said, 
"  Yes."  It  seemed  like  an  insult  to  swear  this 
man  to  tell  the  truth.  He  was  incapable  of  anything 
else.  He  was  one  of  the  very  few  men  I  ever  saw 
who  had  nothing  to  hide,  nothing  to  conceal.  His 
soul  was  open  as  the  sunlight. 

The  Silent  Celt 

»EALY  was  born  in  Ireland,  and  when  four 
years  of  age  induced  his  parents  to  emigrate 
to  Boston.  He  was  as  Irish  as  Arthur  Wellesley, 
and  looked  like  him,  and  was  just  as  silent,  just 
as  simple.  Both  had  to  be  weighed  Troy,  not 


PATRICK   J.   HEALY  ix 

Avoirdupois.  You  remember,  Arthur  Wellesley 
used  to  black  his  own  shoes  because  he  did  not 
want  to  trouble  the  housemaids.  He  used  to  carry 
his  own  luggage,  because  he  was  proud  that  he 
was  able  to  do  it. 

The  Duke  of  Wellington  always  gave  everybody 
his  own  way,  except  when  it  was  necessary  that 
he  should  have  his,  and  when  he  went  up  against 
the  Corsican  the  Irishman  still  had  his  way,  but 
never  boasted  of  it  afterward. 
A  few  men  grow  with  their  business — some  simply 
swell.  Healy  was  always  bigger  than  his  business, 
and  he  built  up  the  largest  business  in  his  own 
particular  line  the  world  has  ever  seen.  And  now 
that  he  has  passed  on,  it  is  still  the  biggest  thing 
in  its  line  in  the  world,  and  the  soul  of  Patrick 
Joseph  Healy  yet  dominates  it. 
Healy  was  so  fine  that  few  people  knew  him.  He 
operated  through  others.  He  shunned  the  glare 
of  the  spotlight.  He  was  as  fine  as  Thomas  Jeffer- 
son— America's  only  Democrat — and  very  much 
like  him.  All  these  things  I  knew  years  ago,  but 
they  did  not  mean  so  much  to  me  then  as  they 
do  now.  A  man  like  Healy  requires  perspective. 


12 PATRICK   J.   HEALY 

The  Thirteenth  Child 

»ATRICK  JOSEPH  HEALY  was  born  on 
a  little  stone-fenced  farm,  County  Cork, 
in  Ireland,  on  March  Seventeenth,  Eighteen 
Hundred  Forty.  He  used  to  say  that  all  loyal 
Irishmen  celebrated  his  birthday,  and  that,  as 
he  was  the  thirteenth  child  of  his  parents,  he 
always  had  good  luck. 

Luther  Burbank  was  also  a  thirteenth  child.  And 
we  might  mention  John  and  Charles  Wesley,  who 
were  well  down  the  list  in  a  nice  little  family  of 
nineteen  children.  Their  mother,  Susannah  Wesley, 
was  the  twenty-fourth  child  of  her  mother. 
Daniel  Webster  was  an  eleventh  child,  Theodore 
Parker  the  same,  and  he  used  to  refer  to  himself 
as  "  the  last  run  of  shad."  Edmund  Burke  was 
one  of  the  youngest  in  a  family  of  fifteen.  Friedrich 
Froebel  completed  the  baker's  dozen.  Beethoven, 
the  greatest  mind  in  music  the  world  has  ever 
seen,  was  number  twelve. 

William  and  Caroline  Herschel,  perhaps  the 
greatest  brother  and  sister  known  in  the  history 
of  science,  divided  honors  with  nine  brothers  and 
sisters.  Coleridge  was  one  in  a  family  of  thirteen. 


PATRICK   J.    HEALY 13 

C,  Doctor  O.  S.  Fowler  used  to  say,  "  Only 
maturity  breeds  brains  " — and  possibly  he  was 
right  in  saying  that  the  law  of  primogeniture 
was  founded  on  a  fallacy. 

Ireland  has  passed  through  tyranny  and  star- 
vation. Her  population  has  dropped  from  eight 
million  to  four  million ;  but  the  flowers  bloom 
and  blossom  in  Ireland,  and  the  babies  grow — 
and  some  of  them  evolve  into  superb  men  and 
women  f*»  s+ 

The  teacher  of  William  and  Alexander  Humboldt 
once  exclaimed  :  "  Yes,  I  have  succeeded  in  school- 
teaching  !  yes !  yes !  I  have  had  two  great  pupils." 
And  any  teacher  who  has  had  that  number  has 
succeeded  «•» 

The  Dependable  Organ  Boy 
one  teacher  of  Patrick  J.  Healy  seems 
to  have  been  William  T.  Adams  of  Boston, 
known  to  the  world  as  "  Oliver  Optic."  Adams 
was  a  lover  of  boys,  and  how  much  he  had  to  do 
with  the  evolution  of  Patrick  Healy  no  man  can 
say.  The  subject  was  so  near  to  the  heart  of  Healy 
that  when  the  name  of  Oliver  Optic  was  mentioned 
his  eyes  would  fill  with  tears  and  his  voice  grow 


PATRICK   J.   HEALY 


husky.  One  day,  Adams,  seeing  that  young  Healy, 
then  aged  eleven,  was  tragically  in  need  of  boots 
and  books,  got  him  a  job  pumping  a  pipe-organ 
for  Silas  P.  Bancroft,  who  had  a  heart  and  head 
that  almost  matched  those  of  Oliver  Optic. 
The  genius  of  Healy  appealed  to  Bancroft,  and 
he  talked  the  matter  over  with  Oliver  Optic  &+ 
Bancroft  was  sure  that  a  lad  who  could  pump  a 
pipe-organ  and  keep  awake  at  his  job  so  as  to 
start  the  noise  the  minute  the  sermon  was  con- 
cluded, surely  had  something  in  him.  Genius  can 
be  shown  even  in  the  pumping  of  a  pipe-organ. 
The  particular  organ  in  question  always  squeaked 
when  worked  too  hard.  The  boy  found  a  way  to 
eliminate  the  squeak  so  that  the  pumper  was  not 
in  competition  with  the  player. 
And  so  it  happened  that  Bancroft  adopted  the 
boy  into  his  own  childless  heart,  and  got  him  a 
job  in  Reed's  music-store,  on  the  strength  of  his 
skill  in  pumping. 

One  piece  of  work  well  done  leads  to  another  **• 
George  P.  Reed  took  little  Healy  over  to  the 
Boston  Public  Library  and  told  the  librarian 
to  issue  him  a  card  and  let  him  take  any  book 


PATRICK   J.   HEALY  _1S 

he  wanted.  And  the  little  Irish  lad  went  home 
and  told  his  mother  that  America  was  Heaven 
— but  his  mother  was  not  so  sure  about  it.  The 
Boston  Public  Library  has  helped  to  feed  many 
a  hungry  mind.  Healy  prized  the  moments  as 
they  passed.  He  improved  every  opportunity. 
The  only  time  that  he  stole  away  for  himself 
was  to  swim  or  to  row.  He  was  always  an  amphib- 
ian, and  through  rowing  and  swimming  he  kept 
his  lithe  little  form  in  good  condition.  His  body 
was  servant  to  his  soul.  He  knew  the  value — 
even  in  childhood,  it  seems — of  having  a  good 
physical  understanding. 

In  Eighteen  Hundred  Sixty-one,  Healy  was  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  and  he  was  head  clerk  in  the 
music-house  &+  ?•+ 

He  could  read  music.  History  to  him  was  familiar. 
He  knew  the  styles  of  composition.  He  could  play 
the  harpsichord,  the  piano,  the  harp  or  the  organ 
enough  to  show  the  beauty  of  the  instrument, 
but  not  well  enough  to  discourage  a  buyer. 
No  great  musician  can  sell  musical  instruments. 
Here,  Healy  said,  Nature  had  greatly  favored 
him  **•  «» 


i6. PATRICK   J.   HEALY 

The  call  for  volunteers,  in  Eighteen  Hundred 
Sixty-one,  came  and  Healy  responded,  only  to 
be  rejected  with  a  promptness  that  gave  him  a 
shock.  The  recruiting-officer  said  they  did  not 
want  any  one  for  a  soldier  who  weighed  less  than 
thirty  pounds  to  the  foot.  Beef  and  brawn  were 
the  standards,  not  brain. 

That  Oliver  Ditson  Agency 

XN  Eighteen  Hundred  Sixty-four  Oliver  Ditson 
was  starting  branch  houses  in  several  of  the 
big  cities  of  the  West. 

He  had  already  sent  John  Church  to  Cincinnati, 
He  offered  the  Chicago  agency  to  the  two  most 
likely  men  of  his  acquaintance,  Mr.  Lyon  and 
Mr.  Healy.  Lyon's  name  was  put  first  because 
he  was  twenty  years  older  and  weighed  nearly 
twice  as  much. 

About  this  time  Chicago  was  only  about  half  the 
size  of  Cincinnati,  and  not  nearly  so  big  as  Saint 
Louis.  It  was  a  pioneer  town — muddy,  on  stilts 
with  wooden  sidewalks. 

Oliver  Ditson  supplied  the  money,  and  Lyon 
and  Healy  put  in  the  enthusiasm  and  the  hope. 
d,  During  these  first  years  the  total  investment 


PATRICK    J.    HEALY 


was  relatively  small,  and  most  of  the  pianos  were 
sold  on  time.  Money  was  in  demand.  One  day  the 
landlord  dropped  in  and  suggested  that,  if  Mr. 
Healy  wanted  to  borrow  a  little  money  to  help 
along  the  business,  it  could  be  arranged. 
Healy's  reply  was,  "  I  can  not  afford  to  pay  ten 
per  cent,  which  is,  I  understand,  what  you  receive 
for  the  money  you  lend." 

And  the  old  gentleman  came  up  close  and  in  a 
whisper  said,  "  Mr.  Healy,  the  money  you  borrow 
from  me  will  not  cost  you  ten  per  cent." 
Healy  was  a  natural  financier.  He  said  the  time 
to  borrow  money  was  when  you  did  not  want  it. 
The  man  who  goes  to  the  banker  only  when  he 
is  hard  up  is  always  under  suspicion.  Healy  knew 
how  to  borrow  money,  and  he  knew  how  to  meet 
his  obligations. 

The  Hundred-Point  Man 

XN  every  institution,  the  difficult  tasks  gravi- 
tate to  the  man  who  can  get  under  the  burden. 
Healy  was  the  man  who  made  decisions — the 
court  of  last  resort.  He  read,  studied,  worked, 
planned  and  grew. 
Very  seldom  indeed  is  there  found  a  man  who 


18  PATRICK   J.   HEALY 

has  the  shrewdness  to  be  a  good  advertiser  and 
at  the  same  time  possesses  a  poetic  temperament 
and  the  ability  to  manage  and  manipulate  men 
for  his  own  benefit — and  theirs. 
The  amount  of  money  that  Healy  spent  in  adver- 
tising caused  the  first  break  between  him  and  his 
partner,  Mr.  Lyon. 

These   expenditures  for  newspaper  ink   gave  a 
shock  also  to  Oliver  Ditson. 
Healy  originated  the  phrase,  "  Everything  Known 
in  Music,"  and  ran  this  constantly  in  all  the 
Chicago  papers.  One  day  a  Scotchman  lumbered 
in  and  said,  "  I  understand  that  you  have  every- 
thing known  in  music." 
And  Mr.  Healy  said,  "  We  have." 
"  Well,"  said  Sandy,  "  if  you  please  I  would  like 
to  see  a  pair  of  bagpipes." 

Mr.  Healy  turned  to  his  clerk  and  said,  "  Mr. 
Pratt,  will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  go  and  select 
the  finest  pair  of  bagpipes  we  have  in  stock  ?  " 
<[  It  so  happened  that  they  had  just  one  solitary 
pair  that  had  been  procured  as  a  curiosity.  These 
bagpipes  had  been  carried  on  the  inventory,  to 
the  great  distress  of  the  firm,  for  several  years. 


PATRICK   J.   HEALY 


Now  here  was  Time  and  Tide  and  the  Piper. 

And   the   clerk   danced. 

Pratt  made  haste  to  dust  off  the  bagpipes,  and 

triumphantly  produced  them. 

Healy    declined    the    invitation    to    play    them. 

The  Scotchman  tried  his  lungs  with  really  marvel- 

ous results  ;  and  when  the  din  had  reached  thrilling 

proportions,  carried  away  the  prize  in  triumph  ;» 

Healy  was  always  a  joker,  but  his  wit  was  of  a 

quiet  and  subtle  sort. 

It  seems  that  once  they  had  an  unruly  and  undisci- 

plined young  fellow  for  a  clerk.  The  department 

manager  came  to  Mr.  Healy  one  day  with  a  bitter 

complaint  against  this  clerk,  and  said,  "  We  will 

have  to  discharge  him." 

"  All  right,"  replied  Healy  ;  "  you  discharge  him." 

CJ,  Presently  the  manager  came  back  and  said  : 

"  I  discharged  him,  but  he  won't  go.  He  tells 

me  to  go  to  hell." 

"  Did  you  go?  "  asked  Mr.  Healy. 

"  No  ;  he  will  not  go,  either  !  " 

"  Well,  then,  the  only  thing  I  can  see  to  do  is 

to  let  him  stay." 

The  point  was  simply  this:  the  second  man  did 


20 PATRICK   J.   HEALY 

not  have  so  much  will  as  the  first,  and  Mr.  Healy 
saw  that,  in  the  course  of  time,  the  unruly  clerk 
might  evolve  into  something  worth  while.  And 
so  he  did. 

Mr.  Healy's  Business  Associates 

»EALY'S  patience  with  stupidity  and  error 
was  always  a  marvel  to  his  associates  &+ 
Behind  the  blundering  individual  he  saw  clearly 
the  man  of  possibilities.  The  trivial,  the  transient, 
the  absurd,  did  not  upset  his  judgment. 
"  If  a  man  fails  to  be  a  friend  to  himself,  then," 
said  Healy,  "he  is  the  man  who  needs  friends 
most."  And  so  he  stood  by  the  erring,  the  foolish 
and  often  the  vicious,  occasionally  to  his  own 
great  disadvantage.  But  this  did  not  disturb  his 
faith  in  humanity. 

There  is  a  maxim  that  a  man  is  known  by  the 
company  he  keeps.  And  perhaps  this  is  true  s+ 
Many  of  the  broken-down  and  busted-up  men  in 
the  musical  circles  of  Chicago  found  a  friend  in 
Patrick  J.  Healy.  He  loaned  them  small  sums; 
he  gave  them  encouragement,  he  put  them  on 
their  feet,  and  a  few  of  them  stayed  there. 
There  is  a  story  told  of  his  taking  a  certain  man 


PATRICK   J.    HEALY 21 

to  the  Sherman  House  for  dinner.  Usually  a  very 
simple  lunch  satisfied  Healy,  but  when  he  invited 
a  friend  to  dine,  he  either  took  him  to  his  own 
home  or  to  the  best  hotel.  Some  one  at  the  hotel 
called  Mr.  Healy  aside  and  said,  "  Mr.  Healy, 
don't  you  know  that  man  ought  to  be  in  jail?  " 
Cl  And  Mr.  Healy  looked  at  the  man  with  his 
mild  blue  eyes  and  said,  "  Yes,  that  man  has 
even  victimized  himself,  but  there  may  yet  be 
a  chance  for  him  to  get  back  to  solid  footing  if 
he  wants  to." 

The  big  musicians,  the  people  of  worth  and  power, 
all  sought  out  Healy.  He  did  not  seek  after  the 
popular,  nor  endeavor  to  ally  himself  with  the 
rich  and  proud  of  the  earth.  And  yet  the  people 
of  position  gave  him  full  recognition. 
Healy  made  a  musical  impression  on  Chicago 
and  the  great  West  unequaled  by  any  other  man 
of  his  time,  or  before,  or  since.  But  there  was 
something  better  than  music  to  Healy,  and  that 
was  manhood. 


PATRICK   J.   HEALY 


Everything  Known  in  Music 

rHE  branches  of  the  business  of  Lyon  and 
Healy  that  surpass  all  other  endeavors  in 
similar  lines  are  the  sale  of  pianos  at  retail  ;  the  sale 
of  rare  old  violins  ;  the  sale  of  sheet-music  ;  the 
wholesaling  of  talking-machines  and  small  instru- 
ments, besides  many  other  things  —  all  brought 
to  highwater  mark  by  the  genius  of  one  man. 
But  he  wished  to  be  known  as  the  builder  of  the 
first  perfect  Harp  the  world  had  ever  seen. 
Healy  knew  how  to  attract  skilful  men  to  him, 
and  he  knew  how  to  manage  men  without  their 
knowing  it.  I  trust  it  will  not  be  disputed  that 
the  man  who  can  manage  musicians  is  something 
more  than  human.  But  Healy  never  met  whim 
with  whim.  If  a  man  were  violent  in  his  language, 
Healy  never  imitated  him.  He  might  have  done 
what  Jailer  Whitman  once  did.  The  prisoners  in 
the  Chicago  jail,  to  the  number  of  five  hundred 
or  so,  refused  to  go  into  their  cells  s^  They  had 
drawn  up  a  long  list  of  grievances,  and  literally 
were  on  a  strike.  They  roamed  the  hallways,  a 
howling,  cursing,  seething  mob,  defying  the  officers 
to  shoot  them,  turn  the  hose  on  them  or  start  a 


PATRICK   J.   HEALY  23 


fire  for  their  benefit.  Argument  was  impossible 
because  nothing  was  heard. 
Jailer  Whitman,  small  in  stature,  but  big  in  brain, 
simply  unlocked  the  door  that  led  into  this  cage 
of  wild  beasts.  He  slipped  in,  relocked  the  door, 
threw  the  key  out,  and  there  he  was  alone  with 
the  mob  «»  He  pushed  his  way  through  to  the 
leader,  took  him  gently  by  the  lapel  of  his  coat, 
and  said,  "  Here,  Bill,  I  want  to  talk  with  you." 
C.  And  it  was  only  a  few  minutes  before  Bill  was 
convinced  that  the  only  thing  to  do  was  to  order 
the  strikers  back  to  their  cells.  Whitman  won 
because  he  had  the  brain  that  could  dominate 
the  situation. 

Succeeding  by  Indirection 
iATRICK  J.  HEALY  was  a  winner  through 
personality  s^  All  over  the  United  States 
where  bands  play,  the  name  of  "  Lyon  and  Healy  " 
will  be  found  modestly  stamped  on  most  of  the 
musical  instruments  in  use. 

First,  to  arouse  some  one  in  a  village  or  town  with 
a  musical  desire,  and  then  to  sell  him  instruments, 
was  genuine  salesmanship.  Nothing  can  be  done 
by  going  after  a  proposition  with  a  bludgeon.  We 


PATRICK   J.    HEALY 


succeed  by  indirection.  To  start  in  and  sell  a  man 
a  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  musical  instruments 
would  have  been  a  miracle ;  but  to  first  fill  this 
man's  mind  with  the  desire  to  organize  a  band, 
and  then  have  him  bring  in  a  dozen,  a  score,  fifty, 
one  hundred  or  two  hundred  men  with  like  intent, 
and  then  fill  the  demand  for  band  instruments — 
that  was  another  thing. 

In  Grand  Rapids  is  a  newspaper  that  started  a 
band  for  newsboys  twenty  years  ago  on  the  sug- 
gestion of  Mr.  Healy.  This  band  is  one  of  the  best 
in  the  United  States,  and  has  almost  a  national 
reputation.  It  has  taught  in  all  upwards  of  one 
thousand  men  to  read  music  and  play  some  musical 
instrument  acceptably. 

Each  player  owned  his  own  instrument,  although, 
to  start  with,  the  newspaper  publication  bought 
the  instruments  and  sold  them  to  the  boys  on  time. 
Healy's  plea  was  that  you  can  not  give  a  man 
something  for  nothing  and  have  it  appreciated. 
Everything  must  be  bought  with  a  price.  Let  the 
boys  own  their  instruments,  and  they  will  care 
for  and  prize  them ;  also,  they  will  be  constantly 
filled  with  the  wish  for  something  better  and  finer. 


PATRICK   J.    HEALY as 

d  For  instance,  a  French  Horn  can  be  bought  for 
twenty  dollars,  but  there  are  others  that  cost  fifty, 
one  hundred,  or  one  hundred  and  fifty ;  and  if  a 
boy  succeeds  in  playing  this  instrument  fairly 
well,  in  the  course  of  time  he  is  going  to  have  just 
as  good  an  instrument  as  can  be  bought,  and  he 
will  save  his  money  for  this  purpose. 
Healy  knew  psychology,  and  before  he  ever 
attempted  to  sell  musical  instruments  he  created 
a  demand  for  music. 

Ed  Howe,  one  of  the  kind  of  men  that  God  never 
duplicates,  organized  a  band  in  the  more  or  less 
obscure  town  of  Atchison.  Colonel  Howe  when 
asked  one  day  what  his  greatest  ambition  was, 
said  it  was  to  be  rich  enough  so  he  could  organize 
a  band  of  one  hundred  pieces  and  go  around  the 
world  giving  free  concerts  in  every  town. 
Of  course,  this  was  a  Kansas  joke ;  but  behind 
the  pleasantry  lay  the  fact  that  Ed  Howe's  soul 
was  filled  with  music,  and  although,  fortunately, 
he  could  not  make  a  sound  on  a  cornet  that  could 
be  heard  across  the  street,  the  fact  was  that  he 
had  infused  a  great  number  of  young  men  with 
the  desire  to  play  in  the  band. 


PATRICK    J.    HEALY 


The  Denver  "  Post  "  band  has  over  one  hundred 
pieces,  and  it  is  one  of  the  features  of  Colorado. 
No  great  dignitary  ever  visits  Denver  but  that 
he  is  met  at  the  station  with  the  Denver  "  Post  " 
Band.  This  Band  has  also  taught  over  one  thou- 
sand boys  to  read  music.  The  Chicago  "  Daily 
News  "  also  has  a  superb  band. 
To  trace  the  origin  of  any  of  these  big  modern 
bands  back  to  the  particular  impulse  that  origi- 
nated them  in  the  brain  of  Patrick  J.  Healy  would 
be  a  nice  study  in  psychology,  but  the  fact  remains 
that  all  big  ideas,  systems  and  institutions  have 
their  origin  in  the  brains  of  individuals. 
Mr.  Healy  as  a  Business  Arbitrator 

»EALY  would  have  made  a  great  judge, 
because  he  was  a  great  diplomat  and  a 
great  pacifier,  unless,  indeed,  he  would  have  gotten 
into  trouble  by  caring  more  for  Right  than  for 
Precedent.  On  various  occasions,  he  was  called 
upon  to  arbitrate  business  differences. 
One  particular  case  was  where  partners  had  dis- 
agreed and  had  reached  a  point  where  lawyers 
had  been  called  in  and  injunctions  issued,  and  the 
whole  bomen  was  about  to  be  thrown  into  ditto- 


PATRICK   J.   HEALY  _*? 

lution  and  a  prosperous  institution  ruined. 
Just  at  this  time  it  was  suggested  that  the  whole 
matter  be  turned  over  for  arbitration  to  Mr.  Healy. 
d  Mr.  Healy  consented  to  hear  the  case,  provided 
both  parties  would  sign  a  stipulation  that  they 
would  abide  by  his  decision,  for  which  he  would 
accept  no  remuneration. 

The  lawyers  lost  a  very  fat  and  juicy  brace  of 
fees,  but  Healy  heard  the  case,  interrogating  all 
the  witnesses  himself,  eliminating  the  attorneys, 
and  allowing  the  directly  interested  parties  to 
make  their  own  arguments. 
The  case  was  settled  and  the  business  was  not 
disturbed  «•»  *» 

Healy's  sense  of  honor  was  of  the  keenest.  He 
would  not  do  that  which  even  seemed  like  taking 
an  advantage  of  another  #»  He  invariably  gave 
every  man  with  whom  he  came  in  contact  the 
best  of  any  proposition  in  which  there  was  any 
question  involved.  On  one  occasion  when  visiting 
a  health  resort  in  company  with  one  of  his  men, 
the  conversation  turned  on  some  matters  and 
things  based  upon  business  transactions  between 
himself  and  a  concern  with  which  he  was  associ- 


28 PATRICK   J.   HEALY 

ated  in  business  for  years.  This  man  said  to  him 
during  the  talk,  "  I  know,  Mr.  Healy,  that  is  all 
very  good,  but  for  Heaven's  sake  how  long  does 
a  debt  of  gratitude  run?  " 

Healy  turned  his  mild  blue  eyes  on  the  speaker 
and  replied  slowly,  "  My  dear  man,  a  debt  of 
gratitude  knows  no  statute  of  limitations." 
Mr.  Healy  Goes  it  Alone 

KN  the  year  Eighteen  Hundred  Eighty-nine, 
Mr.  Lyon  dropped  out  of  the  firm  of  Lyon 
and  Healy — taking  with  him  a  very  beautiful 
cash  balance.  It  was  enumerated,  however,  in 
the  articles  of  dissolution  that  the  name  of  Lyon 
and  Healy  should  be  the  property  of  Mr.  Healy 
— this  including  the  big  L  trademark  name, 
originated  and  signed  a  hundred  times  a  day 
by  Mr.  Healy. 

Here  was  a  seemingly  insignificant  trifle,  but 
Mr.  Healy  knew  its  value  &+  His  maxim  was, 
"  Never  change  the  name  of  your  firm,  or  your 
trademark,  after  the  public  is  once  accustomed 
to  it." 

From  Eighteen  Hundred  Eighty-nine  on,  the 
business  took  a  big  new  lease  of  life,  and  has  since 


PATRICK   J.   HEALY ap 

been  making  strides,  steadily  and  surely. 
And  continued  on  the  general  policy  that  built 
it  up,  it  is  still  growing  under  the  guidance  of 
the  sons  of  Patrick  Joseph,  and  able  lieutenants 
long  trained  in  the  business. 
Patrick  J.  Healy  passed  away  in  Nineteen  Hundred 
Five.  As  the  physician  said  of  William  Morris,  so 
might  it  be  said  of  Healy,  "  He  died  from  too 
much  Patrick  J.  Healy."  His  soul  so  outweighed 
his  body  that  nerves  grew  tense  and  snapped  s+ 
John  C.  Freund  once  said  to  me,  "  There  must 
be  such  a  thing  as  immortality,  for  God  could 
not  afford  to  dissolve  and  dissipate  a  soul  so 
exquisitely  and  divinely  tuned  as  that  of  Patrick 
Healy." 

A  Twenty-Fifth  Century  Man 

rHE  summing  up  of  the  character  of  Patrick 
J.  Healy  reveals  to  us  a  man  from  the  Twenty- 
fifth  Century,  given  to  us  in  the  Twentieth  for 
our  edification  and  pattern.  Here  we  have  great 
kindness,  sympathy,  receptivity,  and  a  life  organ- 
ized on  the  Brotherhood  of  Man,  as  a  working 
policy  s+  £» 
Ne^t,  we  have  great  skill  in  organization,. financier- 


30  PATRICK   J.   HEALY 

ing,  the  management  of  ways  and  means,  the 
elimination  of  lost  motion,  and  reaching  the  end 
to  be  attained  by  the  shortest  and  most  direct 
route  &+  ** 

Third,  we  have  great  love  of  truth,  openness, 
directness,  commonsense,  and  a  deeply  religious 
nature.  The  outward  show  of  religion  did  not 
much  appeal  to  Mr.  Healy,  but  the  spirit  of  Christ 
was  in  his  heart. 

He  was  one  of  the  most  unselfish  of  men.  He  made 
fortunes  for  himself  and  fortunes  for  others,  but 
moneymaking  was  simply  incidental.  For  money 
itself  he  cared  little.  He  loved  his  business,  was 
proud  of  his  business,  and  his  heart  was  always 
in  it;  and  all  through  this  business,  woven  in 
and  out  like  a  golden  thread,  was  the  great 
Golden  Rule. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  a  man  so  fine, 
so  delicate,  so  sensitive,  so  essentially  feminine, 
should  not  be  more  widely  known. 
Thoreau  said  that  the  saviors  of  the  world  are 
always  feminine ;  that  is,  they  possess  the  mother 
heart — a  sympathy  that  embraces  the  world  «•» 
This  all-embracing  sympathy  and  love  for  human- 


PATRICK   J.   HEALY 31 

ity  was  evinced  by  Healy  in  his  regard  for  his 
associates  s+  $+• 

Homeless  boys,  drifting  men,  the  sick  or  unfortu- 
nate of  every  kind  and  nature,  touched  him  to 
tears,  and  his  arms  reached  out  for  their  pro- 
tection. Nobody  knows  the  amount  of  money 
that  he  gave  away  to  such.  Nobody  knows  the 
number  of  cruel  disappointments  that  came  to 
him  through  the  ingratitude  of  men — because  he 
never  discussed  his  failures.  His  windows  were 
ever  open  to  the  East. 

The  New  Ethics 

rHE  newest  theory  in  ethics  is  that  the  world, 
when  it  is  perfected,  will  be  changed  through 
the  Science  of  Economics,  that  is,  through  the 
creation  and  distribution  of  the  things  that  men 
require  for  their  bodily,  mental  and  spiritual 
welfare  «»  «•» 

In  America,  the  nations  mingle  and  meet.  We 
are  essentially  a  business  people.  We  are  builders 
of  homes  and  of  factories.  We  lay  out  roadways, 
plant  forests,  construct  great  parkways  ;•+>  We 
believe  in  playgrounds,  in  pictures,  in  books,  in 
music.  We  believe  in  happiness  and  health  and 


3*  PATRICK   J.   HEALY 

sunshine  and  work  and  good-cheer  and  all  that 
adds  to  human  joy. 

A  Well-Rounded  Life 

IATRICK  JOSEPH  HEALY  grew  as  the 
city  of  Chicago  grew — as  the  nation  grew. 
He  grew  with  his  business.  He  was  ever  abreast 
of  the  times  and  abreast  of  the  best  thought  of 
the  world,  and,  with  the  Prophet  Isaiah,  he  used 
to  say,  "  And  the  desert  shall  blossom  like  the 
rose,  and  the  waste  places  shall  be  made  green, 
and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee  away." 
Harmony  was  his  passion.  Equity  and  reciprocity 
were  his  motifs.  Love  was  his  controlling  impulse. 
He  lived  out  his  life  in  the  light,  shunning,  fearing 
nothing — a  man  afraid  of  no  man,  and  one  of 
whom  no  man  was  afraid. 


PATRICK  J.  HEALY 
the   Businessman 


ML 


S  love  goes 


who  do  not  lie  in 
wait  for  it,  so  does 
the  big  reward 
gravitate  to  the 
patient  man 


^> 

/ir\ 

RIC 

KELIQION: 

WORK,  PL  AY, 

BREATHE.BATHE 

STUDY,  LIVE, 

LAUQM 
LOVE. 


